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Hosted by London Metallomics Facility and Physiological Oxygen Laboratory

The recording of each talk is with the associated title below

This online Symposium focuses on showcasing the important roles that metals play in normal brain function and disease, highlighting recent developments in interventions for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia, the significance of redox signalling, and the recent advances in bioimaging technology to underpin these important scientific questions. The symposium will conclude with a Keynote lecture by Prof. Costantino Iadecola focused on ‘Innate and adaptive immunity in stroke and dementia: challenges and opportunities'.

London Metallomics Facility (LMF) at King’s College London

The London Metallomics Facility (LMF), originally funded by the Wellcome Trust, has developed into a King’s College London core facility, whose aim is to be a centralised hub for comprehensive multi-institutional integration of state-of-the-art metallomic analytics and correlative bioimaging, establishing direct interaction between leading research groups, commercial partners, and industry, whilst driving educational outreach and public engagement strategies. With its links to the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences at King’s, it also has access to a range of radionuclides of trace metals suitable for radiotracer studies and PET (positron emission tomography) metallomics in vivo, as well as access to SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) and MC-ICP-MS (Multicollector-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry) at Imperial College.

Physiological Oxygen Facility at King’s College London

The extensive oxygen gradient between the air we breathe and its ultimate distribution within mitochondria (under 1 kPa) is testament to efforts expended in limiting its inherent toxicity. It has long been recognized that cell culture undertaken under room air conditions falls short of replicating this protection in vitro. Despite this, difficulty in accurately determining the appropriate O2 levels in which to culture cells, coupled with a lack of the technology to replicate and maintain a physiological O2 environment in vitro, has hindered addressing this issue. The Physiological Oxygen Laboratory provides facilities for researchers to undertake cell culture under O2 levels relevant to specific cell types and tissues, enabling translation of findings under physiological conditions in vitro to disease pathology and discovery of novel therapeutics.

Virtual Symposium Programme

Download Programme Book PDF

12:25 – 12:30 Welcome - Watch recording

Prof Ajay Shah Executive Dean Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London

Chair: Prof Wolfgang Maret, King's College London - Watch recording

12:30 – 13:00 The London Metallomics Facility: an emerging scientific platform for understanding the critical roles of metals in biological processes - Watch recording

Dr Theodora Stewart & Dr Alexander Morrell, London Metallomics Facility, RMID, King’s College London

13:00 – 13:30 Parkinson disease-associated cognitive impairment - Watch recording

Prof Dag Aarsland Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London

13.30 – 14:00 PET imaging of trace metal trafficking to and from brain in health, disease, and treatment - Watch recording

Prof Phil Blower School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King's College London

Chair: Prof Christer Hogstrand, King’s College London

14:00 – 14:30 Inherited manganese transporter defects in the brain - Watch recording

Dr Karin Tuschl Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London

14:30 – 15:00 Manganese-induced neurotoxicity: lessons from worms to human neonates - Watch recording

Prof Michael Aschner Director Einstein Center of Toxicology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA

15:00 – 15.15 Break

Chair: Prof Giovanni Mann, King's College London

15:15 – 15:45 Iron - star killer strikes again - Watch recording

Dr Po-Wah So Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London

15:45 – 16:15 The role of iron in neurodegenerative disorders: insights and opportunities with synchrotron light - Watch recording

Prof Joanna Collingwood Head of Trace Metals in Medicine Laboratory, University of Warwick, UK

16:15 – 16:45 Metallomic profiling in ischemic stroke and brain endothelial cells adapted to physiological normoxia - Watch recording

Prof Giovanni E. Mann School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine & Sciences, King’s College London

16:45 – 17:30 Keynote Lecture: Innate and adaptive immunity in stroke and dementia: challenges and opportunities - Watch recording

Prof Costantino Iadecola Director/Chair, Feil Family Brain & Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, USA

17:30 – 17:35 Concluding Remarks - Watch recording

Dr Richard Siow Director, Ageing Research at King’s (ARK), King's College London

The full symposium recording is below